Off the Dimensional Track: Chapter 1
by PredaPrime
Summary: Our favorite number 1 blue tank engine goes on adventures through many different worlds and meets new friends and new foes! How will he cope and will be still really useful as always? (I think you know the answer to that one.)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Tunnel**

One early summer morning on the Island of Sodor at Tidmouth Sheds, everyone's favorite blue tank engine was still asleep as the morning sun shone down on the engines. Thomas was still in dreamland as the sunlight shone down on his blue paint which he was so proud of.

"Zzzzz… Why of course Gordon… I'd LOVE to take the Express for you. Zzzz… Yes Sir Topham Hatt… I'll be able to receive my Engine of the Year award this evening… Zzzz… Lady, you can sleep with me in my shed anytime… Zzzzz…"

"Thomas!" Said Percy to his best friend, trying to wake him up. But to Thomas, it was Lady saying his name in his dream as they sailed down the river on a barge.

"Thomas!" Percy said again with no luck. He was worried that the Fat Controller might see him dozing during this morning's briefing. Percy inhaled…

"THOMAS!" Percy shouted, almost waking the whole yard.

"WAH!" Thomas woke with a start looking around in confusion. "Percy! You ruined my dream again!"

"Lemme guess… You were about to kiss Lady in front of the full moon overlooking Castle Loch?" The green engine said, rolling his eyes.

Thomas was surprised. "H-How'd you guess?"

"You talk in your sleep." Percy told him bluntly.

"And we all hear it." Said a rather grumpy Gordon. "By the way, you'll never take my express. It's not a job for a silly little tank engine like you."

"And that Engine of the Year award belongs to the most splendid engine on the Island." Said James, boastful as ever.

Thomas grumbled as Sir Topham Hatt AKA The Fat Controller came out of his car and stood on a box to make the morning announcements.

"Henry, you'll be taking the heavy goods from Vicarstown Yard to the Docks. Gordon, you'll be pulling the Express. James, you'll be pulling coaches on Duck's branch line. Edward, you'll be taking the Vicar and Trevor to the farm festival. Toby, you'll be taking a film crew around the castles of Sodor. Emily, you'll be taking the children to the fair. Percy, you'll be taking a special mail train. And Thomas…"

"Ooh… I hope he gives me a special special!" Thomas thought excitedly. Like… Picking up the Queen! Or… Visiting the Reverend! Or… doing a job with Lady! Or…"

"You'll be shunting in the coal yards." Said the Fat Controller.

Thomas just looked befuzzled. "But sir…. Coal trucks? Isn't there a film crew or children I can help out?"

The Fat Controller just gave him one of his famous disappointed looks. "Really useful engines don't argue." He told Thomas. The Blue Tank Engine sighed as he started to move out towards the coaling depot.

"Such a shame you have to pull coal trucks. A real pity. Oh well, at least I won't get dirty pulling filthy coal trucks." Sniggered James as he passed him.

"And at least I'll be useful, pulling the Express with pride." Boasted Gordon as he went up the track to the big station.

"Ignore those two." Soothed Edward kindly.

"I'd rather deal with Diesel 10 than those two." Muttered Thomas angrily before storming off.

Toby sighed. "I really wish Gordon and James would act their age and not their wheel size."

"I know." Agreed Percy, who was worried about his best friend being grumpy all day.

Thomas soon arrived at the coaling depot, still grumpy. And it was about to get worse.

"Hello Thomas…" Said a familiar oily voice.

"Ugh… Hello Diesel." The tank engine grumbled. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing." Diesel said innocently. "Just decided to show you my-erm I mean your line of trucks."

Thomas looked to see a sea of coal trucks, singing and giggling. "So… Aren't you going to take some? It would make the job go twice as quick.

"Oh no, I can't." Diesel lied. "Sir Topham Hatt told me to instruct you on what to do and then I had to go and… See Miss Jenny about a few things."

"Like what?"

"Erm… Construction details for the new… Diesel Shed! Yes! That's it! How could I forget!"

Diesel chuckled nervously as Thomas looked suspiciously at him. He didn't trust Diesel as far as he could shunt him.

"Oh for the love of Awdry… Fine. I'll do it." Said Thomas as he angrily backed down onto a line of trucks and set off.

"Heh heh heh…" Diesel sniggered as he reversed to hide in a siding. "That went as smooth as steel!" But while he was congratulating himself, he didn't hear tinkling noises and the whistle of an engine near some buffers.

"Score one for the Diesels!" He chuckled as he set off, still unaware that someone was following him.

A few hours later, Thomas was still delivering coal trucks. He was grumbling all throughout the job, no thanks in part to the silly trucks wanting to play their tricks on him.

"Bother these trucks! Bother that sneaky Diesel and bother those big engines for getting better jobs than I! It's not fair! It's not fair at all!" He shouted as he went down the line with his train.

Finally Thomas went into the yard to pick up the last train of trucks in the yard. He backed down hard into them before setting off for his last destination. He soon came to a signal box with a red signal. The signal came out and spoke to Thomas.

"Bad news I'm afraid. This part of the main line is closed."

"Bother!" Weeshed Thomas. "Now I'll be late home! Is there another way?"

The Signalman paused for a moment.

"Yes there is but-"

Thomas butted in. "OK! Thank you!" He said before steaming off without a second thought before heading down the line.

"Wait!" Called the signalman. "That line hasn't been used in years! It's not safe!"

But Thomas was too far away to hear him, he kept chuffing on ahead with his train.

Meanwhile at Tidmouth sheds, Percy, Toby and Edward were all waiting for Thomas.

"Where is he?" Percy said with some worry in his voice. "He should have been here a half an hour ago… It's not like him to be late."

"I know." Replied Edward. "I was talking to Annie and Clarabel earlier on and they'd seen no hide or hair of him. I even asked Stanley if he'd seen him on his rounds with them. But he hasn't seen him since this morning as he was on his way to the coal depot."

"I'm sure he's on his way home the long way. You know, past the windmill. You know how much he loves seeing the windmill to get him out him out of a bad mood." Suggested Toby.

"Ha! I'm glad he's not here to annoy me about not getting a special special!" Gloated Gordon as he reversed back into the shed.

"Oh be quiet Gordon…" Said Edward. "Just because you think Thomas is a silly little engine, doesn't mean he works as hard as you."

"Yeah! And he can do more specials than two of your put together!" Percy told Gordon, sticking up for his best friend.

"Pah!" Weeshed Gordon. "I'm an important express engine! Not someone who's still sulking around in the coal yards!"

But Thomas wasn't in the coal yards at all...

"Ooh… It's getting a tad spooky around here…" Thomas said to himself as he went down the abandoned line, filled with thick overgrown tree roots weaved into the sleepers of the tracks, mist forming around the edges of the woods and the wind rustling the leaves. Thomas went on down the track till he came to a small tunnel.

"That's funny… Didn't expect a tunnel here." Thomas said to himself. He shone his lamp iron into it.

"Hm… Doesn't look all that safe… I'd best go in first and leave the trucks in a siding."

So that's what Thomas did, much to the trucks dismay.

"Hey! Don't leave us here!" Said one. "Yeah! I don't want to be monster food!" Said another.

"Don't worry." Thomas reassured them. "I'll be back for you."

Thomas began to slowly go into the tunnel with only his lamp iron lighting the way.

"So far… So good…"

Suddenly, the tunnel filled with bright light, blinding Thomas!

"GAH! I CAN'T SEE!" He shouted as he came to the end of the tunnel and…

 _ **To be continued…**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Thomas goes Digital - Part 1**

Thomas opened up his eyes to find himself in a swirling vortex! He was spinning around aimlessly in the wide open space.

"Where on Sodor am I?! This sure isn't the main line! He screamed as he kept spinning around the vortex. Without warning, he was pulled deeper into its eye before being spat out the other side. He landed with a bump onto some lush green grass. When Thomas opened his eyes, he saw that he was now in a place filled with forests, wide open fields and tall mountains.

"Well… It's not Sodor that's for sure. But it's a nice view." Thomas said, wheeshing a sigh of relief. But it wasn't for long. He soon realized, he was on a hill. A downward hill. "Oh… Bother." Thomas said before he went rocketing down the hill, out of control!

Meanwhile near the bottom of the hill, creatures called Digimon where just going about their business. Agumon and some of his friends were helping set up a new shelter for some Digimon who's homes had been ravaged by the tyrannical Digimon Emperor. Agumon was bringing some more logs for the building structure.

"I got more logs you guys!" He called as he came to the sight.

"Brilliant!" Said Gabumon, taking the logs from his friend and used his Blue Blaster move to split the logs into smaller pieces for building use. Biyomon and Tentomon flew up and began attaching more wooden planks on the roof of the building.

"It's finally coming together!" Palmon cheerfully sang as she used her vine like fingers to hold the beams in place till they could be anchored down. The homeless Digimon were delighted with their new place of rest until… CRASH! From out of nowhere, Thomas crashed straight through it getting himself covered in building materials.

"What in the Digital World was that?!" Said Gabumon, thankful he wasn't squashed by the blue tank engine.

"Sorry!" Called Thomas as he kept rolling down the hill towards the forest. The Digimon just looked on in shock and awe about just what happened before looking at the now destroyed shelter.

"I'll get the logs…" Agumon sighed as he walked off to get more logs to restart the build.

"Come on! Keep up Davis!" Called TK as he and the rest of the Digidestined went through the forests of the Digital World. Poor Davis and his partner Veemon were bored out of their brains as TK and Kari suggested on taking a tour of the Digital World.

"Ugh… Why are we on this tour? All I've been looking at have been trees, bushes, more trees, more bushes, even more trees and-

"We get it!" Snapped Yolei. She was busy taking in all the sights.

"Hey! I remember this!" Called TK. "Hey guys! Have a look at this!"

Everyone came over to a rather odd sight. It was a forest full of road signs.

"Oh, I remember you telling me about this TK." Said Kari. "You saw this when you first arrived back in the Digital World."

"Indeed I did! Here is the Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs! No pictures please!"

Yolei and Cody seemed to very fascinated by this. But Davis just rolled his eyes.

"Come on! It's not anything really to be excited about!" Davis grumbled.

"I agree Davis!" Veemon said, sticking up for his partner. Davis then looked at one of the nearby signs. It was a sign for a train crossing.

"These signs are here for no real reason! I mean, when is a train going to-"

He was rudely interrupted by a loud train whistle as Thomas suddenly crashed through the forest of signs before crashing into a large tree.

"Cinders… And… Ashes…" Muttered the tank engine before everything went black.

Thomas soon awoke, finally back on rails.

"Oh… What a nightmare…" He said to himself. "Hey Percy… How long was asleep for? I hope I haven't missed the morning announcements again."

"Did… Did that engine just speak?!" Said a female voice, sounding both shocked and terrified. Thomas opened his eyes to see about 5 children with strange animals looking back at him, all looking like they've seen a ghost.

"Oh hello there. Are you alright? You look quite bewildered.

"Um, yeah! Trains aren't supposed to talk!" Yelled Yolei, trying to make sense of it all. Thomas just looked insulted.

"First of all, I'm not a train. The correct term is Tank Engine and second, of course engines can talk. I mean, cats can't talk."

"Looks who's talking." Said an annoyed Gatomon, trying her best to hide her claws so she doesn't scratch Thomas' paintwork. It was his turn to be the one who was bewildered.

"What the?!" The tank engine said as he heard her. "What kind of cat are you?!"

TK spoke up next, trying to bring some calm to the scene.

"These are creatures called Digimon. You're in the Digital World." He explained.

"That explains all the strange creatures. It also explains that I'm no longer on the Island of Sodor… But this doesn't explain why I'm now back on the rails. I remember crashing into a whole bunch of road signs before hitting a large tree." Said Thomas. " Don't worry, I've had much worse accidents like falling down a mineshaft or crashing into the station masters house during breakfast."

"Oh my…" Kari said. "You are full of surprises."

"Not to mention, covered in broken branches and leaves." Cody pointed out. Broken branches and leaves were all over Thomas. On his footplate, on his cab and even over his lamp iron.

"Bother… I'm sure Gordon and James would call me a bush on wheels or something like that if they saw me. I'd hate to see what Henry would say if he saw me covered in broken branches, since he loves the forest."

"Who are they?" Asked Patamon, curious about Thomas and where he came from.

"They are the Big Engines. Always think they are better than us and that we little engines have to fetch their coaches or shut their trucks."

Veemon piped up. "They make the Digimon Emperor sound like a really nice guy. Actually… I take that back."

"Who's the Digimon Emperor?" Asked Thomas. "He sounds important, like the Queen or the Fat Controller."

This caused most of the Digidestined to start sniggering.

"What? Did he have one too many cakes from the station cafe?!" Roared Davis, finding his childish joke hilarious.

"He must eat as much as I do and I don't get any bigger!" Veemon laughed along with his partner.

This made Thomas cross. He wheesed them loudly and it caused Davis' hair to go all frizzy. It was the others turn to laugh at Davis.

"Hahahaha! You look like you've been whisked through a sauna!" Yolei said, giggling along with Kari and Gatomon.

"I think he's steamed!" Patamon joked. Davis did not look happy.

"Ha ha ha… Very funny Mr. Blue Teapot."

Thomas was about to retort when the D - Terminal buzzed. Cody picked it up.

"It's an email from Izzy." He said, reading the message aloud. "Another few control spires just went up in the north eastern part of the Digital World. Take them out ASAP."

"North Eastern? That's quite a trek on foot. We'd never make it in one day…" TK said, looking quite worried. "If only we had some way of getting there very quickly. Any ideas anyone?"

Patamon just looked over at Thomas. He knew that railway tracks went up that direction, so… why not take a train?

"Why don't we take the train?" Patamon piped up, pointing at Thomas.

"Me?" Thomas said, very surprised. "I'd gladly take you, but I left my coaches Annie and Clarabel back at the station. Not to mention, look at me! I'm like a bush on wheels!" He said as he blew a few leaves out of his face. It was then he looked over at a nearby siding where a few small trucks were sitting and unlike the ones back on Sodor, these ones weren't troublesome. "Hmm… Perhaps I don't need coaches…" Thomas said. "I'll just take those trucks instead."

"What are we to you? Cargo or something?" Davis snapped, still miffed about his hair being ruined.

"Davis, be nice." Kari told him to change his tune. "It's our best bet to get to the control spires."

"All aboard then!" Shouted Yolei, now excited to be riding on a steam engine. But before the Digidestined got aboard Thomas' special train, the Digidestined and Digimon cleaned Thomas of all the broken branches and leaves. The blue engine reversed onto the train and the Digidestined and Digimon soon boarded.

"Next stop… Erm… I don't know!" Thomas said as he departed and blew his whistle loudly. But little did he know he was being watched…

"So… Those Digidestined have a new set of wheels to get them to my control spires?" The Digimon Emperor said as he looked over the many screens in his control room. He smirked as he cooked up a scheme to stop them.

"Wormmon… Get me something that can stop a train." He said to his minion who sadly did as he is told.

"Yes master…" Wormmon said as he crawled away.

"Watch out Digidestined. It's the end of the line for you." The Emperor laughed evilly.


End file.
